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6 Items You Might Be Forgetting in Your Budget

Although a financial necessity, a budget, for the most part, seems like a relatively easy plan to put together, right? After all, all you need to account for are your absolute necessities, every day expenses and savings.

However, have you ever gotten to the end of the month only to find out that you came up short? There are many times, when even the most well thought out plan leaves something out, which may very well be the case in your situation.

Here are six items you might be forgetting in your budget.

1. Subscriptions and Fees

Most people in our world today, have at least one subscription or service that automatically withdraws from their account. Think items like Netflix, magazines, and gym memberships. Without personally writing a check or paying cash, it’s easy to forget that these costs exist, which means it’s easy to exclude them from the budget. Take the time to write down all your services and how much they cost each month, and be sure to include them in your list of expenses.

2. Gifts

While a gift once in a while might not affect your budget, special events often arise more than you anticipate. Whether you need a gift for a friend’s birthday, Christmas, wedding, or even housewarming, it might be a wise choice to have a gift budget as well. That way no matter what comes up, you’re always prepared.

3. Household Items

You most likely account for groceries in your budget, however, it’s possible that you only consider food expenses. Items like paper goods, cleaning supplies and even batteries should be considered their own separate category. They often cost more than we realize and can cause our grocery bills to be much higher than we originally plan.

4. Personal Items

Whether it’s a trip to the hair salon or shampoo or deodorant, personal items are usually forgotten about as well. Since they aren’t purchases we make every week or even every month, they often slip our minds. However, they usually account for a more significant sum than we realize, which is why it’s important to include them in the budget as well.

5. Medication

You might take in to account medical expenses, but you might fail to consider over-the-counter medicine into your budget. Again, things like eye drops, allergy medication, vitamins and heartburn medication, cost quite a bit, but aren’t usually on our list of expenses. Since medicine isn’t cheap, it can tip us over our budget rather quickly.

6. Extra Additions

When you’re thinking of necessary expenses, it’s easy to forget your daily latte, weekly meal out, or Saturday-night rental. These don’t seem like much in the short-term, however, they can add up to more than you think. Including even the small things within your budget can make all the difference.

At the end of the day, your budget might include more than you realize and constantly failing to stick to it can be discouraging, which is why ensuring that each of these things has it’s own place can be the key to sticking to it.